OnePlus has finally released the highly anticipated OxygenOS. The new release, prepared by many developers, including Paranoid Android devs, can be flashed via TWRP or other custom recoveries. It’s not a totally bug free firmware which surely will be updated soon. Prepare for downloading a 705 MB file!
The post OxygenOS Released! appeared first on xda-developers.
If you're one of those frustrated drivers who really wanted to be competitive NASCAR racers someday, then it's a good thing that there are a lot of mobile games out there to take out your frustrations on (and not on an actual highway or something). One of the newest games on the block is called Rush Rally, and it will give you all the rush of competing in a rally, with a retro feel as well.
The game actually gives you a realistic and physics-based rally racing, but makes it more fun and more challenging as well. You get to race across all terrains and at all times, whether it's racing at night or racing through the rain and snow. There are 72 tracks with varying surfaces (snow, gravel, tarmac, sand) and level of difficulty. There is also a Rally Cross mode where you race through 36 tracks, all the while trying to beat highly competitive opponents.
One of the fun things about playing mobile racing games is that you get to customize your car with a variety of options that you can change whenever you feel like it (or whenever something gets destroyed). Anyone can play the game, from newbies to experts, from young ones to the (slightly) older ones because the game has four difficulty settings. And because it's optimized for touch devices, it's easy to learn the intuitive controls.
If you're feeling competitive (as all racing enthusiasts are), you can connect the game to your Facebook account and race against people you actually know. You can download Rush Rally for free from the Google Play Store, but it comes with in-app purchases as well.
Multiplayer games being played over Bluetooth connectivity on two or more mobile devices are nothing new. The only challenge for people who enjoy playing such is finding a game that is really fun and enjoyable to play with another person. Developed by Seabaa, DUAL is a new local multiplayer game that involves two players to shoot bullets. No, not real bullets coming from guns but just bullets seen on two screens. You can either play a DUEL or DEFEND mode depending on your mood. Choose to be competitive in a duel or cooperative by defending your base.
What's good about this game is that it works locally over WiFi. This means even you can play the multiplayer game with another person even without having to turn on your Bluetooth connection. You see, Bluetooth is not always reliable because you have to be wary of the distance and location of your devices. Over WiFi, you are guaranteed of "lesser disconnections" as long as, well, your tablet or smartphone is connected to the Internet.
To play in the Duel mode, simply tilt your phone to dodge bullets, shoot the other camp, and charge. In the Defend mode, you need to cooperate with a friend and work together to defend the middle from the attackers. You can collect different color sets too and then unlock them simply by playing against different players.
Sebaa is proud of this game and is currently working on to add Bluetooth support because you know, it still is the easiest way to connect to a nearby phone.
Download DUAL! from the Google Play Store
If you're a fan of the cult favorite but dismally rated comedy show Community, then you were gratified to know that despite NBC's cancellation last year, Yahoo was kind enough to pick it up and renew it for a 6th season. And if you're watching it on your mobile device courtesy of the app Yahoo Screen, then now you will be able to appreciate it even more when you cast it on to a larger screen through Chromecast.
Yes, you can now mirror your Yahoo Screen on to your TV through the dongle. At least, that is the idea. However, apparently not everything is smooth sailing as it doesn't work with all the content yet on the app, just a handful of shows like Community and their new original drama, Sin City Saints (if you like basketball and Las Vegas, then this is the show for you). Another bug in the Chromecast support is that as soon as your mobile device sleeps, the episode you're currently watching restarts. So that means you have to "kill" the app once you start watching or else you'll be Groundhog Day-ing every episode.
But despite those bugs (Yahoo promised they are fixing it), the video quality when you cast it is pretty great. It's also fairly easy to use and includes second screen controls to help you manage what you're watching easily.
If you don't have Yahoo Screen yet, you can download it for free from the Google Play Store. Hopefully, the other content there, like Saturday Night Live archive episodes, highlights from Comedy Central shows, concerts, etc, will also be Chromecast-ready.
VIA: Engadget
Do you remember the last time you went out of the house for a whole day and never needed to recharge your smartphone or to use an external battery or battery case to juice it up? Well, neither can we. The battery conundrum continues to haunt OEMs everywhere. But that just means it's good news (not to consumers) for accessory makers who continue to churn out extended battery devices. With the imminent arrival of the Samsung Galaxy S6, Mophie and ZeroLemon have also announced their new battery cases.
The Mophie juice pack made specifically for Samsung's newest flagship device will give your smartphone a solution for its thirst for power as well as protect it from the probably sure-to-happen dropping of phone onto a hard surface. You don't have to worry about it looking or feeling too bulky with its slim yet protective design. The 3,300 mAh battery built-in to the impact-isolation system casing will give your Galaxy S6 more than 100% extra battery (or so they claim), so that means 34 hours of talk time, 24 hours of internet use and 26 hours of video playback.
Meanwhile ZeroLemon has also come out with its own battery case for the Galaxy S6. It has a slightly lower mAh, with just 2,800, but it claims to give your soon-to-be new smartphone 110% additional power. It comes in a black TPU case that will survive "significant drops and everyday abuse".
The Mophie juice pack costs $99.95 and is already available for pre-order (just like the Galaxy S6!). It also comes with a one-year warranty. The ZeroLemon has no pricing and availability details as of yet, although it did say it will come with a 180 day ZeroLemon warranty. Now, all we have to do is wait for the Galaxy S6 to actually hit the market, which should be anytime soon.
Greetings gamers and true believers and welcome to the latest edition of Android Community's Level Up!, where we bring you the latest and greatest games and news that have come across our radars for the past few days. In this round, we're doing something a bit different for a change. We're bringing you not just what's new, but also what's hot, or alternatively, what's not. Presenting our selection of the 5 top games for March 2015, starting with number 5.
Rovio really knows how to milk a franchise and its not yet running out of ideas just yet. Putting its newest heroine and her gang to the task, Angry Birds Stella POP!, which is still a mouthful to say, puts the pig popping, slingshot pulling action in another perspective. Literally. Instead of the conventional side view of previous Angry Birds games, POP! turns it around to the front. Popping pigs is the same in principle, as you will need to pop the structure on which they sit. Or stand. This time, however, they sit/stand on colored bubbles that you can only pop using a similar colored bubble from your "bubble quiver". But don't think it would be too easy, as you will need to have at least 3 of the same colored bubbles to get a pop. It's like a Threes game, just with brightly colored spheres and annoying green swine.
Angry Birds Stella POP! is free, but, as you might have guessed, riddled with in-app purchases.
OK, we're probably kicking ourselves in the posterior for this, but this game is so darn freaky that it's so good. The ghastly animatronics are back to test your resolve. Though they have seemingly "died" in the last game (yes, there are 2 other freakishly nightmarish prequels), that isn't stopping them from haunting your days. Or nights rather. Why you would want to still work at a theme park designed in the likeness and image of your nightmares is beyond comprehension, but here you are, once again trying to make a living, ironically among the animatronic dead. So better get that popcorn ready for some night time ghost hunting. At least before they start hunting you.
Though there's a free demo to try, you do have to pay $3.99 for the full experience of Five Nights at Freddy's 3, which, when you think about it, is like paying someone just to scare you, hopefully not to death.
Comic books are fond of reboots, resets, and repeats, and some of them might not sit well with more seasoned fans who have developed some form of attachment to the older version. If you are one of those who were taken aback by the latest X-Men film "re-imagining" then this game might be to your liking. If you actually liked the film, then, well, X-Men: Days of Future Past will introduce you to how it really happened. Set not within the film's storyline but in the original world of the comic book, the game gives access to more familiar names in the mutant roster, including Cyclops, Colossus, Shadowcat, and the soon to be very popular Scarlet Witch. The game itself even feels like a throwback to the old X-Men arcade games, taking the form of a side-scrolling action platformer. As for controls, well, we've grown to accept the realities of mobile gaming. At least the game offers you an option between virtual buttons or swipe gestures. Along with power ups for each mutant, the game also teases fans with hidden pieces of the comic's history, including character bios, comic book covers, and even concept art.
X-Men: Days of Future Past does cost $3.99, but happily it doesn't have any other purchases hidden inside along with the secret treasures.
All your favorite Final Fantasy characters and scenes all rolled into one in your smartphone. What's not to love? Maybe the pixelated renditions of said characters, but some will take Cloud, Tifa, Squall, Rinoa, Lightning, and the rest of the gang in whatever form they take, as long as they can bring them along in their pockets or bags. In Record Keeper, a kingdom that keeps safe the chronicles of heroism throughout the Final Fantasy universe has been besieged and the paintings that held these records mysteriously vanished. Now it's up to you, the new hero, to bring back those paintings. How else than by actually reliving those now iconic moments and battling the villains that were vanquished. Worry not, as you will not do it alone, as the very same heroes who defeated them will be at your beck and call. Final Fantasy Record Keeper has everything you might have loved in the classic FF games, with an engaging and mysterious plot, memorable soundtrack, and yes, even the 8-bit goodness of the good old days.
Best of all, unlike the other Final Fantasy ports to mobile, Final Fantasy Record Keeper comes free of charge. There is, of course, IAPs, but that might be a price some will be willing to pay.
Gameloft has done it again. Another Dungeon Hunter installment, another hit game. The highly popular action RPG comes swinging away again on Android, but this time there is a little twist. As with many mobile games these days, there is both a single player and multi-player element to DH5. But the multi-player part takes on a slightly different form. Players can now create their own strongholds, keeping their treasures and protecting them with summoned minions. Other players, of course, can take stab at getting their hands on those. Players attacking another player's lair will have to go through all the obstacles laid before them before finally facing the dungeon master himself or herself, who is another player, of course. And there's more to DH5 than that. The story itself is quite changed, turning the player not into a hero but into a sword for hire. The game also introduces an element system that you can use to your advantage against enemies that are weak against a certain type. Gameloft also boasts that the graphics engine for this fifth installment has been revamped to take advantage of the latest in mobile technology.
Dungeon Hunter 5, like its predecessors, is free to claim but do beware of the hidden traps of in-app merchandise.
There are just some games that try to hype you up and build expectation, only to fall short of the promise and disappoint .Stormblades, who could have easily taken a spot in our top 5 but instead falls almost flat on its face. Poised to be an Infinity Blade for Android, the game does deliver on the graphics, somewhat, and the swipes and counter-swipes of the popular iOS title. The endless runner aspect injects a tinge of novelty to the game as well. But from there, everything else goes south. The lack of a notable storyline, the buggy double tap to evade implementation, and the highly repetitive gameplay makes Stormblades look less like Infinity Blade and more like Temple Run, with pit stops for slashing baddies. Good thing the game is only free to try, then.
And that's it for our Top 5 edition of Level Up! Tune in next time as we bring you more news and views on the latest in the Android gaming world. Be sure to check out the rest of our Gaming coverage for other noteworthy bits and pieces, like new games, updates, and on-going sales and bundles. Until next time, keep those thumbs warm!
By Ben Frenkel, Google Play Games team
A few weeks ago at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), we announced Play Games Player Analytics, a new set of free reports to help you manage your games business and understand in-game player behavior. Today, we’re excited to make these new tools available to you in the Google Play Developer Console.
Analytics is a key component of running a game as a service, which is increasingly becoming a necessity for running a successful mobile gaming business. When you take a closer look at large developers that do this successfully, you find that they do three things really well:
“With player engagement and revenue data living under one roof, developers get a level of data quality that is simply not available to smaller teams without dedicated staff. As the tools evolve, I think Google Play Games Player Analytics will finally allow indie devs to confidently make data-driven changes that actually improve revenue.”
Kevin Pazirandeh
Developer of Zombie Highway 2
With Player Analytics, we wanted to make these capabilities available to the entire developer ecosystem on Google Play in a frictionless, easy-to-use way, freeing up your precious time to create great gaming experiences. Small studios, including the makers of Zombie Highway 2 and Bombsquad, have already started to see the benefits and impact of Player Analytics on their business.
Further, if you integrate with Google Play game services, you get this set of analytics with no incremental effort. But, for a little extra work, you can also unlock another set of high impact reports by integrating Google Play game services Events, starting with the Sources and Sinks report, a report to help you balance your in-game economy.
If you already have a game integrated with Google Play game services, go check out the new reports in the Google Play Developer Console today. For everyone else, enabling Player Analytics is as simple as adding a handful of lines of code to your game to integrate Google Play game services.
Set your spend target in Player Analytics by choosing a daily goal
To help assess the health of your games business, Player Analytics enables you to select a daily in-app purchase revenue target and then assess how you're doing against that goal through the Target vs Actual report depicted below. Learn more.
Identify hot spots using benchmarks with the Business Drivers report
Ever wonder how your game’s performance stacks up against other games? Player Analytics tells you exactly how well you are doing compared to similar games in your category.
Metrics highlighted in red are below the benchmark. Arrows indicate whether a metric is trending up or down, and any cell with the icon can be clicked to see more details about the underlying drivers of the change. Learn more.
Track player retention by new user cohort
In the Retention report, you can see the percentage of players that continued to play your game on the following seven days after installing your game.
See where players are spending their time, struggling, and churning with the Player Progression report
Measured by the number of achievements players have earned, the Player Progression funnel helps you identify where your players are struggling and churning to help you refine your game and, ultimately, improve retention. Add more achievements to make progression tracking more precise.
Manage your in-game economy with the Sources and Sinks report
The Sources and Sinks report helps you balance your in-game economy by showing the relationship between how quickly players are earning or buying and using resources.
For example, Eric Froemling, one man developer of BombSquad, used the Sources & Sinks report to help balance the rate at which players earned and spent tickets.
Read more about Eric’s experience with Player Analytics in his recent blog post.
To enable the Sources and Sinks report you will need to create and integrate Play game services Events that track sources of premium currency (e.g., gold coins earned), and sinks of premium currency (e.g., gold coins spent to buy in-app items).